


Just Starting Out

by hurinhouse



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-22
Updated: 2015-01-22
Packaged: 2018-03-08 14:07:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3211970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hurinhouse/pseuds/hurinhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An entry-level criminal sometimes needs a leg up</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Starting Out

**Author's Note:**

> for the White Collar 100 prompt #117 - insomnia

He's always been a light sleeper, sometimes to the point of insomnia. Maybe it's from years packed in the orphanage with various shades of night breathing, but he sleeps better with someone around. 

The first time he crashes at Neal's place, he finds peanut butter and stale saltines during his not-so-secretive 2am raid. 

"No yogurt?"

When Neal claims this just isn't his regular place, it's not so much that Mozzie believes him - he's seen how skinny the kid is - but that he doesn't care enough to worry about it. He jots it in his mental notebook just in case, though, and uses the only towel in the bathroom in place of a blanket.

There's rice and a cheap loaf of bread next time, and one non-dairy yogurt, with a yarn about old frat brothers cleaning Neal out the previous night. Moz doesn't feel comfortable enough yet to call bullshit, but he nods and raises his "ah" brow to sail past Awkward Island. He does get a larger towel this time.

They pull an all-nighter uptown, casing a high end jewelry store. He'd brought low-sodium pretzels and non-dairy yogurt for the long haul. Neal declines the offered yogurt, but chokes down the pretzels, silencing the roars coming from his mid-section. Moz stashes an extra bag and water in Neal's backpack when the kid's snagging a closer look at the side entrance. Neal's not his responsibility, of course. Guilt plays havoc with Mozzie's self-preservation is all. 

The fifth time Mozzie shows, he takes his own pillow and comes laden with five bags for Neal's cupboards. Produce galore, staples, a pan that sits flat and a real blanket. He melts into the frayed sofa when Neal protests being a charity case and waves the kid toward the kitchen.

"Wake me when dinner's ready."


End file.
